a car at dent school?

[DBB]

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how many students at dent school have a vehicle? if i go where i think i may, it is less than 1.5 hrs from my home...therefore i will def. stop home to get things in my spare time, etc. (i KNOW itll be busy at school, but i will find the time to stop home).
are you allotted enough money in a student loan to finance a vehicle? does anyone out there currently do this?

 

[UBTom]

Depends on the school and the area I suppose...

For example, if you attend NYU and live near the school in Manhattan, you would be certified INSANE if you have a car. 😀

For those of us who go to school out in the boonies where everything is far apart (like where I am), a car is mandatory. I already own a car, but the car insurance costs come out of my living expenses allotment in my student loans.

 

[arns51]

I have a car, and couldnt imagine not having it. And I have been thinking really hard about leasing a cheap car while in dental school. However, Im still unsure if I would be able to afford a 150-200$ car payment while living off loans.

 

[ShawnOne]

You definately need a car in LA. No doubt! But everybody here already knows that!

Which brings me to a different question..

To me, it seems people from the west go east for school. But, I dont see much of the other way around. (east to west)

Is this true, or is it just that I dont see it?

 

[CaliNY]

Originally posted by ShawnOne
To me, it seems people from the west go east for school. But, I dont see much of the other way around. (east to west)

Is this true, or is it just that I dont see it?

Well I think that a lot of west coast people HAVE TO go to the east for school because it's so competitive in CA schools and there isn't a large concentration of dental schools on the west besides in CA. Also, in terms of east coming west, again, the schools are competive enough for west coast people to get into (UCLA, UCSF, UW, Oregon), so the east coast people probably just decide to save their time and money.

 

[3rdMolarRoller]

I have a car here. Keeping it registered in FL bec the insurance rates are crazy here. I pay $800 a year now...$1700 if I get NJ plates

Oh yeah, I don't drive it into the city 😀

 

[PERFECT3435]

i would feel like a disabled person if i didn't have a car.
but then, maybe its because i live in los angeles.

as far as payments go, i don't think that its a big deal of money to be paying 200/mo for car payments. it comes down to about 6/day which most of us spend anyways. maybe you would just have to start eating at home and not spending it on fast food and cigs (thank god i quit. my 2 months of nicotene free now) like most of the kids do. doing that will leave you that car payment $$ that you are looking for.

 

[arns51]

Originally posted by PERFECT3435
i would feel like a disabled person if i didn't have a car.
but then, maybe its because i live in los angeles.

as far as payments go, i don't think that its a big deal of money to be paying 200/mo for car payments. it comes down to about 6/day which most of us spend anyways. maybe you would just have to start eating at home and not spending it on fast food and cigs (thank god i quit. my 2 months of nicotene free now) like most of the kids do. doing that will leave you that car payment $$ that you are looking for.

Wow, I never thought of it as only 6 dollars a day. And yes, Im over a month smoke free right now (even though I should be 4 years smoke free if I hadnt slipped up about 6 months ago). What might hurt me though is going out on the weekends, sometime I spend a bit too much.

 

[PERFECT3435]

arns,

after having read many your posts on SDN, i am more than sure that you can manage your weekend spendings. you did it while in under grad.

thats fine.
now, you are in a whole new world my friend. you gotta learn to live like a student now.

 

[drPheta]

You don't need a car in Boston, but it's nice to have when you want to get away from the city, live in a nearby state, or want to go grocery shopping and not haul 5 bags onto the subway/bus.

Originally posted by ShawnOne
You definately need a car in LA. No doubt! But everybody here already knows that!

Which brings me to a different question..

To me, it seems people from the west go east for school. But, I dont see much of the other way around. (east to west)

Is this true, or is it just that I dont see it?

I think the reason for this is because Cali only has UOP, UCLA, UCSF, USC and LLU

If you figure 150 (which we know is not the case) per class, then you're looking at 750 students to the entire state system. California is huge, and all those applicants need to get into a school somewhere. Since Cali is a coastal state, it's jut natural for the residents to choose coastal schools.

I'm just pulling this out of my ass, but it makes sense. Doesn't it? 😕

Originally posted by arns51
Wow, I never thought of it as only 6 dollars a day. And yes, Im over a month smoke free right now (even though I should be 4 years smoke free if I hadnt slipped up about 6 months ago). What might hurt me though is going out on the weekends, sometime I spend a bit too much.

Ummm, don't forget insurance, which will bump it to about 400/mo payments. So, $12/day is two meals! Seriously, the financial burden of dental school (no matter how expensive or cheap your tuition) is heavy. You have no income, major exenses like rent, food, utilities, tuition, books, and misc expenses.


Man, I don't want to study....finals suck

 

[PERFECT3435]

for those who have to have a car and can be happy with any car that can serve the purpose this is good news.

right now, you can lease a Ford Mustang for $5/day. thats 150/mo. if your driving record is clean, you could probably get insured for another 150/mo (max).
so $300/mo (10/day) is not much. i think most of the people can afford this as long as you cut back on some useless stuff.




btw, this may not apply to kids living in los angeles where people rather have a Lexus or mercedes and have no money for food and clothes.



just kidding.

 

[arns51]

Originally posted by PERFECT3435
arns,

after having read many your posts on SDN, i am more than sure that you can manage your weekend spendings. you did it while in under grad.

thats fine.
now, you are in a whole new world my friend. you gotta learn to live like a student now.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, im sure the first month or so will be rough, but I will get used to living like a student again very quickly.

Right now I think I can afford to lease a cheap car, but Im just not sure if it is worth the potential headache if I have to worry about money every month and if I have to think about every single little thing I spend my money on.

Any more advice from dental students who have leased or bought a car before school started would be much appreciated.

 

[Balki]

btw, this may not apply to kids living in los angeles where people rather have a Lexus or mercedes and have no money for food and clothes.



just kidding. [/B]

Perfect especially in Glendale right? just joking. Here in NY that happens too, plus out insurance is insane

 

[NewNameForGoogleBot]

Originally posted by drPheta
Ummm, don't forget insurance, which will bump it to about 400/mo payments. So, $12/day is two meals!

Wow! Do you really pay $200/month for insurance? My 1997 Accord runs $650/year in NC for two drivers with good records. $2400/year or even $1700/year as Brocnizer mentioned is crazy!!

 

[drPheta]

Originally posted by jaap
Wow! Do you really pay $200/month for insurance? My 1997 Accord runs $650/year in NC for two drivers with good records. $2400/year or even $1700/year as Brocnizer mentioned is crazy!!

Personally, I pay 110/mo on my insurance. However, that's only comprehensive. If I were to up it to comprehensive and collision, then it'd be 2400 a year. Ins in NJ and MA is ridiculous.

 

[PERFECT3435]

same here.
i am 27, been driving for the past 10 yrs, and have a clean record (except for the parking ticketes).


how much do i pay?

about 100/month and thats not even full coverage.
i guess thats another reason that i disagree with the living in los angeles.

 

[sxr71]

Originally posted by arns51
I have a car, and couldnt imagine not having it. And I have been thinking really hard about leasing a cheap car while in dental school. However, Im still unsure if I would be able to afford a 150-200$ car payment while living off loans.

Everything depends on how they tough they are on your budget. OSU has a very low cost of attendence and if you can borrow the full amount of Stafford loans you can afford a car.

 

[sxr71]

Originally posted by Brocnizer2007
I have a car here. Keeping it registered in FL bec the insurance rates are crazy here. I pay $800 a year now...$1700 if I get NJ plates

Oh yeah, I don't drive it into the city 😀

Where do you park? I always thought it impossible for a student to have a car in NYC.

BTW, even $1700 is a good rate for NJ for our age. When I lived there (NJ) I kept my OH plates and saved.

 

[DaktarSaheb]

I am 21 and live in small town in Michigan. With two speeding tickets I pay $750 for comprehensive. No collison well I don't need it. My car is 95 olds achieva with 120k and runs great. I paid 2100 my First year for full coverage when I was 18 and I was living in Maryland at that time. It's so nice to live in small town. No traffic and cheaper ins.

 

[Thaxil]

I think a car would be necessary no matter were you live, excluding NY and Boston. $400 a month is ridiculous! If that was my case I would just bike to school. I am extremely cheap person. I eat oatmeal for breakfast ($.20), sandwiches for lunch and fruit about $ 1.5 and bean and rice with vegetables $1. As far as the car, my wife and I drive a 2002 ford escape (paid in full) and I drive my $hity 1990 ford ranger (182000 miles). Figuring insurance, and car repairs, we must spend 125 total to drive. Both I and her have perfect driving records, and have full coverage on the escape and liability on the ranger.

 

[PERFECT3435]

i am actually thinking about riding a bike to school. i'll be 6 mi away from school so we'll see what happens.
it'll be a good morning excersize to say the least.

 

[DcS]

I grew up in NJ, and when I moved to NC and got NC insurance my parents almost passed out in happiness! IMHO, if you have a car already, I don't see the point of getting a new one just yet. If anything, why not wait a year, see how your budget ends up, and then rethink the possibility since you will be better informed to make the correct decision for you. In my case, I've got a car (a 1996) and would love a new one, but it's nice to pack away some extra loan money into savings every year. I figure I'll make it last dental school, and then as a graduation present to myself I'll start a lease on something nice.

 

[spooky42]

you guys are getting off easy.

I pay over 4G for my insurance in NY. ive been in 1 minor accident and have plenty of speeding tickets, but it was still high before that.

 

[UBTom]

One of the reasons why I moved to Buffalo for dental school. Down in NYC/Long Island my insurance was $3200/yr full coverage. Up here it's $800/yr same policy. I save almost $10,000 over four years on car insurance alone.

(Roll "I have good news" Geico TV commercial) 😀

As far as getting a new car goes... My present car might not be flashy, but it's reliable and sensible. I'm willing to wait until I've saved up a chunk of money towards buying into a practice before I trade it in for something better. Figure three or four more years after I graduate.

 

[ecdoesit]

me too. i want to get a bike (motorcycle)
cos traffic is pretty bad in westwood.
hopefully, i could zoom zoom zoom thru traffic
but my insurance is likely to increase...

 

[marshall]

The only major city I've lived in that would merit a discussion about parking is Boston. We successfully had a car there for two years, right in the city. Now, by "successfully" I mean that we didn't die and the car is still with us. The only problem was it got about 10 parking tickets and 5 or 6 tows.

They are adamant about towing cars on street cleaning days. Promptly at 8am they will tow your car, no matter what--even if they aren't cleaning the street! And when you pick it up it will have a nice fat ticket for you. But if you buy a spot (not cheap) then you don't have to worry about it. Or if you drive a lot so that you can move your car on street cleaning nights to a different street cleaning day, you'll be okay too.

On that note, public transport in Boston is OK but the T does not always go where you want and you'll realize that travelling by car is *so* much faster. You think places are 80 miles apart because it takes an hour to get there during rush hour but are actually only a ten minute drive.